The Sapphire Bride Central City Brides Book 2
Historical Western Romance
Firehouse Publishing
April 28, 2017
276
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
Twenty-six year old Ava Lewis is the only jeweler in New York City and she dreams of owning her own store one day, unfortunately those dreams end when her twin brother Jeffrey comes knocking with a stab wound that is poisoning him. Jeffrey is an archeologist who was lucky enough to find an Incan burial tomb filled with precious stones worth a fortune. The Peruvian government allowed Jeffrey to keep half of what he found and the government kept the other half. Emmett Walsh another archeologist also found treasure but nothing as valuable as Jeffrey and he put poison on a knife and cut Jeffrey with hopes of getting his treasure.
Jeffrey managed to get to his sister before he died and told her the story of the jewels, he also begged her to leave and go as far away as she can and as soon as she can and that led her to Matchmaker & Co. to become a mail-order bride. The man she accepted was none other than Seamus (Lucky) Madigan the owner of three saloons and one of Jack and Rita’s best friends. If you read book one than you know who Jack and Rita are, they are a Matchmaker & Co. success story.
Ava arrives in the Colorado Territory and meets the man who will be her husband only Lucky doesn’t meet Ava Lewis he meets Jane Smith the name Ava uses in order to hide from Emmett Walsh. Her marriage begins with lies and secrets, the first is that she is being looked for by a killer and the second is that her real name is Ava Lewis, third is that she is carrying around a fortune in jewels that she hopes to use in the jewelry she makes.
Ava runs into trouble the minute she and Lucky are alone and ready to consummate their marriage when Delilah a prostitute Lucky spent time with discovers that he is married something she was sure he would never do and if he did it would be with her. There is no doubt in Ava’s mind that Delilah could prove to be a danger.
As with book one we have a man convinced he will never love but who none the less wants a family. Lucky is a wonderful man and Ava doesn’t take long in telling him all her secrets. Now not only has she married Lucky once but since it was using a made up name she winds up marrying him again.
I know that this book is very similar to book one and to other mail-order bride series but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the characters and their circumstances are different and the love story is wonderful. It doesn’t matter to me that they meet the same way, that the men refuse to love and there are other similarities the story still is worth the time and money.